House on Fire
by Trubie74
Summary: Tonks and Remus stop back to Grimmauld Place to pick something up. They run into Sirius while there, and Remus introduces the woman he fancies to the man who's been more than a best mate since childhood. The two get on like a house on fire. Remus has regrets. (Ficlet)
**Disclaimer: everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.**

 **AN:** This is just a cute little oneshot that hit me last night. No idea where it came from, but here it is XD

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 **House On Fire**

It had been no more than a couple of minutes after their introduction that he spoke up, tone exasperated. "Nope, this was a horrible idea. I regret this already." Remus slumped at the table, his head in his hands. The rooms other two occupants both paused, bewildered.

"Regret what?" Tonks asked, blinking in confusion. What was he on about? They had been getting along smashingly, as far as she could tell. Sirius surveyed them both through narrowly amused eyes from his seat at the head of the table. Feet kicked up, chair tilted back, he looked for all the world like some sort of famous actor, posing for a photoshoot of some kind. It was a good look, at least by Tonks' standards.

"This. Introducing the two of you." The werewolf gestured wearily between them. "What in Merlin's name was I thinking? You're far too much trouble. Tell you what, both of you just forget this ever happened, yeah?" He was alarmed by how quickly the two of them had gotten on. It was rather concerning.

"Forget?" Sirius mock gasped. Sweeping up from the table, he sauntered around it and placed his hands atop Tonks' shoulders. Leaning forward, he smiled charmingly at his oldest friend from behind the much smaller witch. "Mooney how could she possibly forget a face like this? I'm ravishing!"

Tonks smirked and folded her arms. "He's right you know, Remus, just look at him." Gesturing up behind her, she caught the tail end of his suggestive smirk. "That's clearly a face only a mother could love."

Sirius opened his mouth, probably to praise Tonks for clearly having better taste than _some people,_ and froze. Gazing down, he took in Tonks' blankly innocent expression. Her eyes danced with mischief.

"Oi, why you little minx!" Remus watched amused as his best friend attempted to grab the fuchsia haired woman around the waste. Tonks, in a moment of uncharacteristic balance, ducked under his arms easily and danced lightly around the room, walking her fingers across Remus' shoulders as she passed by him. Eyes twinkling in mirth, she leaned down and pecked the scruffy professor on the cheek.

"Just let me pop upstairs for that book I was telling you about and then it's off to the races, yeah?" She gave his shoulders one last quick squeeze before taking her leave. The two wizards held quiet for a moment, listening to the faint sound of Tonks tripping her way up the staircase. Sighing, Remus looked up and took in Sirius' expression.

"Don't even think about it Padfoot."

"Whatever do you mean Mooney?" Sirius asked.

The atmosphere in the room grew suddenly heavy as Remus said "I like her Sirius. _I like her a lot."_

"So do I." Remus snorted in response, heaving himself up from the table and making for the door. "I know you do," he called back. "That's what worries me."

Shaking his head with a small smile, the dark haired man moved forward, patting his friend on the cheek as he passed him. "Don't worry your pretty little head Remus, I value our friendship far too much to snake her from you." Remus sighed in relief. "If anything, we should share!" The werewolf's head snapped up in surprise but Sirius had already swaggered into the drawing room and out of sight. Swallowing, Remus quickly pushed back the images that statement brought forth, images that he wasn't necessarily opposed to. Shaking his head to dispel such fantasies, he moved to wait by the door.

A sudden crash from upstairs and Tonks' hurried shout of "I meant to do that!", followed by Sirius' barking laughter from the next room brought a smile to his tired face. Oh Gryffindor, was he in trouble.

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 **Please review! Questions, comments, and constructive criticism are always welcome! Thanks for reading!**


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